A couple of week ago, we included a community survey in the paper, and so far, we have heard from over 400 respondents. This puts us well on our way of our goal of hearing from more than 600 people.
The main focus of this survey is to find ways to improve the paper and to further connect with the community. With limited resources, we want to make sure, as we prepare for the future, it is in a manner that is consistent with the values of the community and represents the wishes of all of you.
Out of 405 responses received at the time of publishing this week, 378 people, or 93%, indicated that they were weekly readers of the paper. This is a great response so far, but as we look toward growth and connecting with more members of the community, we are missing a pretty large demographic; those who do not usually read the paper.
While this editorial will likely do little to reach those people, we are asking for your help with this matter. Please mention the survey to friends, family, or others you know in the community who could offer feedback, especially if they do not regularly read the paper.
Also not surprising is the age of those who have responded so far, with 296 out of 405 stating they are 65 years of age or older. Again, we ask for your help to get a broader view of the opinions from different age groups.
While it is too early yet to fully analyze the data, some trends are becoming pretty apparent. The topic of least interest in the paper is the TV guide. We do intend to use this data to help choose which aspects of the paper should be improved, expanded, reduced, or removed. Items such as the TV guide are important to identify if the benefit to the readers exceeds the costs to produce it each week. Perhaps the TV guide will end up on the obituary page before long …
As a reminder, we have plenty of copies of the paper survey at the office, and the survey can be accessed on our website at lcnme.com/reader-survey.
We are excited about what’s to come and hope that through this process, you can help determine ways to improve our coverage, so that we may continue to be the eyes, the ears, and the voice of Lincoln County well into the future. Thank you for your support.
